We all know about how "Advance Australia Fair" was first performed in the middle of a outbreak of race riots, right?

As @LukeLPearson points out here, the cosmetic change of one word is pretty pathetic.

But we've genuinely forgotten the context in which the song was written: an outbreak of anti-Chinese violence in 1870s Sydney, which ultimately led to Federation.

https://t.co/9eIsmEqRl1
Here's the Sydney Morning Herald's account of its first performance on St. Andrews Day, 30 November 1878:

https://t.co/6DunDKIbvB
On the adjoining column is an account of an incident the same week when two well-dressed men in black coats and white shirt-fronts brutally attacked a Chinese man in Essex Street in the Rocks with a hammer:
This wasn't an isolated incident. In fact, racist anti-Chinese agitation in November 1878 in Sydney was a crucial turning point in Australia's Federation as a unified country.
There had been periodic race riots against Chinese miners on the goldfields of Victoria and Queensland since the 1850s but the 1878 Seamen's Strike was the first time this came to urban Australia.
The Seamen's Union started agitating against the Australasian Steam Navigation Company in July 1878 about its hiring of Chinese labourers as ship crew. By November it had turned into a mass strike.
There was very serious unrest. After a meeting in Hyde Park on 4 December a few days after "Advance Australia Fair" debuted, a mob of 2,000 people carrying torches attempted to burn down a Chinese-owned business and attacked people in the street:

https://t.co/Y8Ktav0ZmD
The agitation spread like wildfire.

The Sydney Evening News edition reporting another early performance of "Advance Australia Fair" in early December 1878 records anti-Chinese meetings in Bathurst, Mudgee, Goulburn, Wellington and Brisbane:

https://t.co/kOsHmp4nAH
The Seamen's Strike was arguably the start of the union movement in Australia. It also led to 1881 legislation restricting Chinese migration into New South Wales.
The reluctance of most states to pass such legislation in line with NSW and Victoria was one of the driving forces behind Federation.
Read the original four-verse text of the song – with its lines about "English soil and fatherland" and promises to "rouse to arms" against "foreign foe" — and consider the race riots that were playing out in the same city when it was first performed.

https://t.co/jH9k2jqEm3
There aren't many good national anthems IMO, but that history does leave a particularly bad taste in my mouth, regardless of how much the lyrics are cleaned up.

More from Culture

मुंबईतील प्रसिद्ध किताबखाना ला लागलेली आग आपल्या सर्वांच्या मनाला चटका लावणारी होती. त्या आगीत सुमारे 95 लाख किमतीच्या 45,000 पुस्तकांचं नुकसान झालं. एकूण नुकसान दोन कोटींच्या घरात गेलं. तरीही किताबखाना पुन्हा सुरू करण्याचं स्वप्न आहे समीर आणि अमृता सोमैया यांचं.
#Thread

त्यांनीच दहा वर्षांपूर्वी मुंबईत ही सुंदर स्पेस तयार केली.त्यांच्या जगप्रवासात विविध पुस्तकांनी त्यांना वेड लावलं.अशी एक कम्युनिटी स्पेस मुंबईतही करायची,या ध्येयाने त्यांनी किताबखानाची निर्मिती केली.अमृताचे वडील प्रसिद्ध आर्किटेक्ट जगदीश मिस्त्री यांनी किताबखाना डिझाईन केला होता.

लाईव इवेंट्स, पुस्तक वाचन, काला घोडा फेस्ट्वलचे कार्यक्रम, उत्तमोत्तम पुस्तकं, लहान मुलांसाठीचा पुस्तकांचा स्वतंत्र विभाग ही किताबखानाची सर्व खासियत कायम राहणार आहे.
सध्या तिथे रिस्टोरेशनचं काम सुरू आहे. समीर आणि अमृता यांची मी घेतलेली मुलाखत आणि बातमी शेअर करत आहे.

दोन मार्चला किताबखाना वाचकांसाठी पुन्हा सुरू करायचा समीर आणि अमृता सोमैया यांचा प्रयत्न आहे. किताबखाना कॅफे आता इनहाऊस चालवला जाईल. @JairajSinghR @KitabKhanaBooks @UpadhyayaP12

Mumbai's iconic @KitabKhanaBooks is getting ready to reopen after gutted in fire and hit by the #Lockdown
My story via @timesofindia
Read what Samir and Amrita Somaiya have to say, who created this beautiful community space in #SoBo #Mumbai #Bookstore

You May Also Like

प्राचीन काल में गाधि नामक एक राजा थे।उनकी सत्यवती नाम की एक पुत्री थी।राजा गाधि ने अपनी पुत्री का विवाह महर्षि भृगु के पुत्र से करवा दिया।महर्षि भृगु इस विवाह से बहुत प्रसन्न हुए और उन्होने अपनी पुत्रवधु को आशीर्वाद देकर उसे कोई भी वर मांगने को कहा।


सत्यवती ने महर्षि भृगु से अपने तथा अपनी माता के लिए पुत्र का वरदान मांगा।ये जानकर महर्षि भृगु ने यज्ञ किया और तत्पश्चात सत्यवती और उसकी माता को अलग-अलग प्रकार के दो चरू (यज्ञ के लिए पकाया हुआ अन्न) दिए और कहा कि ऋतु स्नान के बाद तुम्हारी माता पुत्र की इच्छा लेकर पीपल का आलिंगन...

...करें और तुम भी पुत्र की इच्छा लेकर गूलर वृक्ष का आलिंगन करना। आलिंगन करने के बाद चरू का सेवन करना, इससे तुम दोनो को पुत्र प्राप्ति होगी।परंतु मां बेटी के चरू आपस में बदल जाते हैं और ये महर्षि भृगु अपनी दिव्य दृष्टि से देख लेते हैं।

भृगु ऋषि सत्यवती से कहते हैं,"पुत्री तुम्हारा और तुम्हारी माता ने एक दुसरे के चरू खा लिए हैं।इस कारण तुम्हारा पुत्र ब्राह्मण होते हुए भी क्षत्रिय सा आचरण करेगा और तुम्हारी माता का पुत्र क्षत्रिय होकर भी ब्राह्मण सा आचरण करेगा।"
इस पर सत्यवती ने भृगु ऋषि से बड़ी विनती की।


सत्यवती ने कहा,"मुझे आशीर्वाद दें कि मेरा पुत्र ब्राह्मण सा ही आचरण करे।"तब महर्षि ने उसे ये आशीर्वाद दे दिया कि उसका पुत्र ब्राह्मण सा ही आचरण करेगा किन्तु उसका पौत्र क्षत्रियों सा व्यवहार करेगा। सत्यवती का एक पुत्र हुआ जिसका नाम जम्दाग्नि था जो सप्त ऋषियों में से एक हैं।
This is a pretty valiant attempt to defend the "Feminist Glaciology" article, which says conventional wisdom is wrong, and this is a solid piece of scholarship. I'll beg to differ, because I think Jeffery, here, is confusing scholarship with "saying things that seem right".


The article is, at heart, deeply weird, even essentialist. Here, for example, is the claim that proposing climate engineering is a "man" thing. Also a "man" thing: attempting to get distance from a topic, approaching it in a disinterested fashion.


Also a "man" thing—physical courage. (I guess, not quite: physical courage "co-constitutes" masculinist glaciology along with nationalism and colonialism.)


There's criticism of a New York Times article that talks about glaciology adventures, which makes a similar point.


At the heart of this chunk is the claim that glaciology excludes women because of a narrative of scientific objectivity and physical adventure. This is a strong claim! It's not enough to say, hey, sure, sounds good. Is it true?